To permit storing and transporting of an ironing board having legs folded against the board, it has been proposed to provide hooks or the like on the ironing board, usually on the bottom of the ironing surface, in order to lock the leg structure in folded position. The hook reaches beneath a portion of the ironing board or its leg structure to ensure that the board with the legs folded will remain in the folded condition. Such transport or storage hooks and lock structures are awkward to use and require additional material and assembly in the manufacture of the ironing board.
The ironing board surface usually is arranged in form of an elongated plate with essentially parallel sides. One end or one side is usually widened and blunt in order to provide a rest position for a flat iron; the other end tapers toward a pointed tip. German Utility Model G 86 05 722 describes such a structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,917,775 describes a folding mechanism; German Design Model M 96 01 268 and the U.S. patent describe ironing boards with one longitudinal side straight and a more or less curved back side. At least at one side, a somewhat slim run-out is thus provided. The ironing board of the German Design Model M 96 01 268 is in general of "banana" shape. Upon ironing with this ironing board, the user's arm movements are facilitated by this "banana" shape only if large items are to be ironed on the board.
The shapes of the various ironing boards are matched for convenient ironing usually only for a very restricted type of laundry to be ironed, for example for large-area goods such as sheets or the like, or small regions, such as arms of shirts. Substantial compromises must be made by the user when ironing on such boards. A convenient place for the iron, when not is use, is not provided on any one of these ironing boards.